Yellowstone volcano: Who is tracking the supervolcano during US Government shutdown?

FEDERAL government offices across the United States remain shut down for the third week now as President Donald Trump demands funding for his Mexico border wall. But with no one running Government agencies, who is paying attention to the Yellowstone supervolcano?

A partial shutdown of the US Government has affected approximately 25 percent of the federal government and some 800,000 employees. With the Government shutdown comes concern over the country’s geological agencies, which monitor Yellowstone for signs of volcanic activity. On Saturday, January 5, the shutdown has become the longest in US history. And as President Trump battles the Democrats to fund his Mexico border wall, the conflict shows no signs of stopping.

But as part of the US Government shutdown, the USGS is one of the many agencies affected by the bureaucratic chaos.

US Volcano Observatories will continue to issue updates, warnings, and notifications

United States Geological Survey

Thankfully, the volcano is still being monitored for signs of seismic and volcanic activity.

The USGS issued a brief statement on its website in the wake of the ongoing stalemate, assuring the US public it is keeping a finger on the pulse.

The USGS said: “During the current federal government shutdown, the Volcano Hazard Program and all five US Volcano Observatories will continue to issue updates, warnings, and notifications through the usual channels, including websites, email, and social media.

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“The volcano monitoring data on this website will be kept up to date and all monitoring instruments will continue to be operational.

“Static website content will not be updated until further notice and information may be outdated.”

During the shutdown, all five of the USGS’ volcano observatories will continue to monitor volcanoes in the mainland US, Alaska and Hawaii.

And a contingency plan drafted in September 2018, specifies at least 75 employees “needed for the protection of life and property to be retained in the event of a lapse in appropriation” will remain at hand.

Yellowstone volcano: The supervolcano is watched by the US Geological Survey (Image: GETTY)

Yellowstone volcano: The supervolcano will likely erupt again in the distant future (Image: GETTY)

Will Yellowstone volcano erupt again?

The odds of Yellowstone erupting in the near future are incredibly slim but geologists do not dismiss the possibility of this happening in the distant future.